GREENBRIER VALLEY AREA (Hinton News) – Area historian Fred Long of Hinton today announced the publication of his latest book on the Greenbrier area, From Virginia’s War With France to the Revolution.
“It’s the first time,” Long said, “that a thorough examination of the hard-fought struggle to settle the Greenbrier Valley has been fully explored. The struggle to settle this area through two great wars with two powerful nations is a fascinating, intriguing story of hardship, danger and disappointment.”
Long, a lifelong resident of Hinton has spent most of his life studying the history of the Greenbrier Valley. He was the editor and publisher of The Hinton News until his retirement in 2015. “I’ve always been interested in the history of this area. The study of this area has been my hobby for over forty years—collecting bits of scattered information. I thought it was time to put all of that information together in one book and retirement made it possible for me to do that.”
A long-time member of the Greenbrier County Historical Society, and contributor, Long is also a charter member of the Summers County Historic Landmarks Commission, responsible for the archaeological investigations of Arbuckle’s Fort at Alderson, and Cook’s Fort, in nearby Monroe County. Working with Kim and Stephen McBride of Lewisburg and professional archaeologists, they have explored nearly every frontier fort in the Greenbrier Valley, including Donnally’s Fort.
The frontier fort system was vital to the growth of this area, Long said, and so little had been documented that myths surrounding the forts somehow metamorphosed from conjecture into presumed fact. “I explored these myths, particularly the one surrounding Fort Savannah, with contemporaneous documents and Revolutionary War pension applications from people that actually lived at that time. I made some unique discoveries.”
The book is a 339-page paperback with over 900 endnotes documenting its contents throughout. It contains several rare maps to help the reader and several rare illustrations that included depictions of the 1763 Clendenin Massacre. It also contains a complete bibliography and an index. The book is available worldwide on Amazon.
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